The Truth About Dietary Fat

Today’s topic is “FAT”. We’re talking about the fat that we consume: dietary fat.

Eating fat doesn’t make you fat.

Dietary fat has a really unfortunate name. If we are what we eat, then what will happen if we eat fat?

Nope, you won’t get fat by eating fat.

A while ago, low-fat food products were all the rage because people believed that eating fat caused obesity or fat gain. Although this has been proven to be incorrect, this idea that eating fat will make us fat just won’t seem to die.

Some fats are REALLY healthy.

Fat is actually a really important component of our diet; it has functions that cannot be replaced by the other macronutrients. Nutrient absorption, supporting cell growth and normal brain function, production of hormones and protection of organs… just to name a few.

There are a few different type of fats:

Polyunsaturated fat

Monounsaturated fat

Saturated fat

Trans fat

Trans fat (except for certain naturally-occurring ones) are the ones that you should DEFINITELY avoid, but the rest of them are totally fine in moderation.

Here’s a simple rule of thumb: Fat coming from whole food sources such as fatty fish, nuts and seeds, eggs or meat are OK. On the other hand, fat from processed food such as fried and oily dishes, cakes and biscuits is best to be avoided.

Simply put, eat more whole foods and less processed food.

Then again, eating fat MAY cause you to gain weight.

Wait, what?! First we say that eating fat don’t make you fat, now we’re telling you that eating fat may cause you to gain weight? Hear us out.
There is one argument against fat when it comes to weight management, and that is the fact that per gram of fat contains more than twice the amount of calories compared to per gram of carbohydrate or protein.

Everybody has a calorie budget, that once exceeded, causes us to gain weight.

So if we consume lots of fat, it’s much easier to exceed that calorie budget because it contains more calories. However, whole foods that are high in fat tend to be very satiating, so if you follow the above rule of consuming fat from whole foods, then there isn’t as much to be worried about.